Happy new year, everyone. Since we’re into 2014 now, and (perhaps more pertinently) since all of our 2013 charts generated so much traffic to www.www.uncut.co.uk last month, I thought it’d be useful/cynical to post a Best Of 2014 (Thus Far) list.
Robert Plant explains that he much prefers performing with his latest band, the Sensational Space Shifters, to playing hits from his past, in the new issue of Uncut.
Apologies - I've been a little late posting my Best Albums Of 2013 list. In mitigation, at least I managed to post my Best Films Of 2013 last week, which you can read here.
This month’s issue of Uncut, as you may have seen, comes with a free supplement showcasing our extensive end-of-year charts. We’ve decided, though, to post our 80 Best Albums Of 2013 list here.
You can read new assessments of these albums in the booklet. But in the meantime, click on the links to read the original Uncut reviews. A reminder, too, that Uncut staffers have been posting their individual 2013 lists:
OK, I’ve managed to remember 143 albums that came out this year and that I liked. As in previous years, I didn’t see much point in hacking my list down to a Top 100, or Top 50, or whatever. While it’d be a stretch to claim every one is an imperishable classic, I do feel broadly confident recommending them all.
Morrissey is to release a new edition of his third solo album, Your Arsenal.
Originally released in 1992, Your Arsenal was produced by Mick Ronson.
The Definitive Master will be released on February 24 via Parlophone Records.
It will be available on CD, vinyl and digital download, with the CD edition accompanied by a bonus DVD of previously unreleased live concert from 1991.
Not uncharacteristically, I’ve spent the past few days repressing a bunch of unnecessary rage about the publicity afforded the BBC’s Sound Of 2013 poll. Not so much because of the artists selected, but because of the way it effectively presents an ultimatum to new talent: have something resembling success in the next 12 months, or else people will weary of your miserable underachievement and move on to the next batch of hopefuls.
There have been plenty of surprises and revelations in music during the last twelve months. Admittedly, perhaps not all of them have had the same impact as the sudden arrival of records by David Bowie or My Bloody Valentine; nevertheless, a Tweet on June 3 from Edwyn Collins’ label AED carried its own quietly momentous piece of breaking news. “A new @RoddyFrame record in the wind, on AED, early 2014. It’s a lovely thing, just wait til you hear it. Watch this space, popsters.”
Pavement frontman and solo artist Malkmus is releasing a new album, Wig Out At Jagbags, with his band, The Jicks, on January 6, 2014. Here, though, is a classic archive feature from our September 2011 issue (Take 172), in which the guitarist and songwriter answers questions from fans and celebrity admirers including Graham Coxon, Nigel Godrich, Avey Tare, Stewart Lee and Scrabble enthusiast Giles Brandreth. Prepare for confessions about ripping off The Fall, horse-racing and a pubic-hair-eating contest… Interview: John Lewis___________________
